That is the claim of insurance expert Ed Perkins, who wrote on SmartTravel.com that most medical holiday insurance policies provide trip-cancellation in the event that someone in your travelling party or a close family member who is not travelling becomes ill.

He stated: "That's a valuable protection, because even through you might have no pre-existing medical problems, you might well have to cancel your trip because someone close to you falls ill or suffers an accident due to a pre-existing condition."

Mr Perkins added that it is crucial to buy travel insurance early enough before a trip to ensure that the provider waives exemptions for pre-existing conditions.

The travel insurance specialist added that most policies require holidaymakers to buy enough insurance to cover their "full financial exposure" in the event they are forced to cancel.

In other industry news, personal finance firm Kiplinger recently warned consumers that they are better off buying their holiday cover from an insurance specialist rather than as part of a package.

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